Aurora

Imaggeo on Mondays: Magnetic interaction

Hazel Gibson October 11, 2021

Magnetic interaction . Credit: David Bernard (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Space weather is a ubiquitous, but little known, natural hazard. Though not as tangible as a volcanic eruption, storm or tsunami wave, space weather has the potenital to cause huge economic losses across the globe. In Europe alone, the interaction of solar wind with our planet’s magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere, could lead to disrutions to space-based telecommunications, broadcasti ...[Read More]

Imaggeo On Monday: Aurora Australis with Southern Cross and Pointer stars

Ulrich Schreiber February 22, 2021

Aurora Australis with Southern Cross and Pointer stars. Credit: Ulrich Schreiber (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

This view from the Port Hills of Christchurch in New Zealand glances South over Governors Bay into the distance, where an Aurora Australis is visible near the horizon. Almost in the center of the starry sky the Southern Cross with its 2 Pointer stars are showing prominently. Description by Ulrich Schreiber, after the description on imaggeo.egu.eu. Imaggeo is the EGU’s online open acc ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The Tempest

Hazel Gibson February 24, 2020

The Tempest. Credit: Cyril Simon Wedlund (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Measuring the aurora. This picture was taken while doing an optical/radar coordinated campaign in Svalbard, Norway, near the settlement of Longyearbyen. In this campaign, we were measuring for the first time the polarisation of the auroral ‘red line’ of atomic oxygen with a photopolarimeter and were running the radars in order to have a better understanding of the state of the ionosphe ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: How do Earth’s Northern Lights form?

Konstantina Nakoudi September 16, 2019

Aurora Borealis in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. Credit: Konstantina Nakoudi (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Aurora Borealis, which means Northern Lights are caused by electrically charged particles from the sun, which enter the Earth’s atmosphere and collide with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. When the charged particles are blown towards the Earth by the solar wind, they are largely deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field. However, the Earth’s magnetic field is weaker at the poles and therefore some ...[Read More]